Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by CrazyDavros:

Pours copper with a large, fading head.Nose shows tons of peat. Almost rauch-like in its smokiness. Also lots of caramel and golden syrup. Lots of woody notes.Very whisky-like flavours. Lots of peat and woody notes, along with some booze and more caramel. Definitely a sipper.Good light carbonation and a slightly syrupy body.

I LOVE Islay whisky's (esp. Ardbeg), so when I saw this bottle, I had to try it (even after the price was revealed :)

To be honest, I think this is the best tasting beer that ever passed through my mouth. The fact that I'm also a great whisky fan makes my review probably a bit objective but If you like peat, smoke, oak, ... taste & smell, this the ONE !

Everything (S - T - M) reminds very much of Ardbeg whisky, although I suspect that they used Laphroaig casks to do the trick. I was a fan of the peated version of the Embrasse (from Dochter v/d Korenaar) but to my opinion, this one is even better.

Small downset is, as already mentioned, the price and therefor appearance gets 4.0 but all the rest is almost perfect ! ! !

S - If this was available as a perfume scent, I would definitely use it :)

Appearance: Served in a fancy wide wine glass, Bitch Please comes rather carbonated, about one finger of head with some lacing left behind. Deep chestnut color and bubbles.

Smell: You've never smelled something like this before! Pure Scottish whiskey, peated beyond believe. Smoke, smoke, SMOKE! Coal, soil, petroleum. Soiled barrel, booze and fire. I bet this would blow up if I had a lighter. No nuances here, just pure Scottish peat. Take it or leave it.

Taste: More smoke, straight-up coal hitting your lips and then a hint of hops. Bleach and cleaning product to boot. Forest fire.

Mouthfeel: Good body all around, with full flavor and body and medium-to-full carbonation. The smoke is even bigger and ever-present in the mouth. Spicy-peppery finish with a tad of, duh, smoked flowers.

Overall: Exceptional indeed. This is all about the smoke. American barleywine? Not sure. But I'll say that the 13.5% is well played and it does not overwhelm.

Smokey. Charry, burnt, smouldering actually on the nose. So much aroma, and history, and evolution in that smell. It's all of one family but so much character. Wow.

Taste is hugely burnt, charred and smokey. Not meaning to channel Ralph Wiggum but "it tastes like burning". Smouldering, peat-filled, smokey malt. Slight spice and caramel at the back adds a touch of sweetness, but it's really just mostly that smouldering, day-old ash heap; that's the flavour.

Remarkably smooth for the size; big body but pretty good.

Hugely burnt, almost spicy, carbon-burning flavour. I love it of course but it's just so deep and complex and yet there's a smoothness to the construction. Pretty amazing beer.

APPEARANCE: This looks a lot like a Barleywine, browner than usual and verymurky with a surprisingly big head that fades quickly. The lacing is strong.

SMELL: There is a ton more citrus that expected from an American-style Barleywine, but a lot of the typical Barleywine aromas push through, sugar, banana, bread.

TASTE: Whoa! In no way, shape or form is this a typical Barleywine - American or otherwise. This tastes like I just cut my grass. It's insane. That said, even though it is super grassy it's also very peaty, mossy and smoky.

MOUTHFEEL: Dry, crisp and...well...not so clean. There is a lot more sparkle than expected, but it isn't overwhelming.

OVERALL: This is the "Scotch-iest" beer the world has ever seen. I can't tell if that's awesome or awful, but either way it certainly is unique.

Bottle purchased directly from the brewery and sent to Australia. Shared with @tobeerornottobe and @LaitueGonflable.

Pours a hazy, even smoky red colour, with a fine firm head of mottled cream. Lacing is intricate but sparse. Body is as thick as you'd expect, holding carbonation statically in its grip. Overall, it's a pretty awesome looking brew.

Nose is huge and peaty. Like, as peaty as you can physically get, and then with a little more peat thrown in for good measure. Insanely smoky and slightly sharp, with an almost peppery note to it. There's perhaps a hint of wood to it, and an odd character of rubbed lemon skin. It's excellent stuff.

Taste is (if anything) even better. Here, there's (yes, yes) peat, smoke, scotch, sweetness, depth (yawn): everything you'd expect from the nose. But they up the ante with a really unexpected note of capsicum or fresh, fruity chilli, almost like a habanero without the spice. The subtlety of it is masterfully done, even though everything is caught in a traumatic, abusive maelstrom. This is absolutely fantastic stuff. Brilliantly insane, but with inimitable cohesion to it.

Love it. Love it. Love it. This is actually fairly different to the original Bitch Please, but it's still absolutely brilliant. This is why I keep trying new beers: in the hope that something like this will come along.

This beer surprised me which I'll elaborate at the end of the review...

A: Deep red-brown coloring that is clean looking but almost totally opaque. The beer pours with a right yellow-brown head that has great retention and leaves a lovely lacing on the glass.

S: Intense sweet malty caramel with whiskey and oaky/almost papery notes. The nose on this beer is similar to a smelling a bag of malted barley that had a couple shots of whiskey thrown on it. Very well done for the style but not a lot of complexity which is why I gave it a 4.0

T: WHOA! This took me by surprise, which again I'll explain later. Leathery alcohol (taste not burn) is the first thing that comes to mind when I drink this. Then I get the oakiness followed by some earthiness and it starts reminding me of a traditional scotch with less of a burn. My next thought is that they threw the batch of barley wine into an old dusty scotch barrel. Some charcoal notes linger in the flavor which is quickly offset by the sweet finish. This is not what I was expecting when I poured this drink.

M: Smooth medium bodied ale with a very light carbonation. I feel it could use more body for the style.

Okay. So when I originally wrote the tasting notes on this beer, I didn't remember why I purchased it. It had been in my cellar for a while and it didn't have the style labeled anywhere. So when I went to review it, I quickly looked up the style on beer advocate and started judging it based on that it was an everyday barley wine. Boy was I in for a surprise. As soon as I tasted it... ya, nothing like a standard barely wine or at least the characteristics generally associated with the style. This beer had some extreme funkiness to it. So initially I gave it a bad score... and then I read the bottle to see if Brew Dog and 3 Floyds could explain themselves, and they did. The side of the bottle basically states that they were attempting to brew a beer with the traditional scotch characteristics of peaty caramel. This, my friend, they succeeded in ten fold. But be aware that this is what you are in for if you buy this beer. Its good but personally, I'd prefer a single malt scotch instead.